A442 stretch to shut for six days as huge crane moves in

The A442 will close for six days to make way for one of Europe’s largest cranes, it was revealed today.

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Construction work under way on the new station footbridge over the A442

The crane is being brought in to lift the first section of a new footbridge near Telford Station into place.

The southbound section of the dual carriageway will be closed to make way for the crane from June 27 to July 2.

The northbound section will be closed for the safety of the public, from June 29 to July 2.

The closures will be from the Hollinswood interchange to the Greyhound roundabout.

The section of the bridge is to go over the railway track, and is part of a new footbridge from the station to the town centre.

Diversions will be put into place, but Telford & Wrekin Council today urged businesses to change their working hours to compensate, and for road users to find alternative routes as early on their journeys as possible to avoid delays.

The council and building contractors say these dates could change depending on the weather.

James Corrigan, project manager from Balfour Beatty, which is undertaking the project, said: “If there’s a storm forecast, for people’s safety, we’ll look into changing the dates completely, but this is highly unlikely. In the last eight weeks we’ve only had two days that would have put the lift at jeopardy and only just.”

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The railway bridge being lifted weighs about 95 tonnes, equivalent to more than seven double-decker buses.

The LG1750 crane will be positioned on the southbound section of the A442, and will take a separate crane and three days to assemble before it can be used, and a further three days to dismantle after the bridge is in place.

It will take 16 heavy duty wagons carrying abnormal loads to escort the crane to the site, starting June 27.

The German crane is owned by a British company, and constantly moves around Europe taking on similar sized projects. The new railway bridge is planned to be hoisted into position from midnight on June 30, to 5am on July 1.

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The public footpath will be closed, and a free-to-use taxi will run between these hours to ferry people between the station and town centre.

The public can watch the crane being assembled, as well as the bridge being lifted into place, either from a live stream on the Telford & Wrekin Youtube channel, or a specially made viewing platform nearby.

Councillor Lee Carter, cabinet member for finance, commercial services and economic development, said: “We appreciate that the closures will be inconvenient but we’re doing all we can to make this process as efficient as possible.